The Last Voyage
by Lady GreyWolf
Summary: The Dawn Treader is returning from Aslan's kingdom, but is attacked by a nation of magicians powerful enough to possibly kill the Great Lion. As the Pevensies have already left aid comes in the form of two women searching for their missing friend. [CURRENTLY ACTIVE]
1. Chapter 1

**Could really use some feedback on this story - it's one of those that I've just been lazily writing stuff for every now and then so I have no idea if it's good or not. Takes place during the return-journey from Aslan's Kingdom in _Voyage of the Dawn Treader_ and could be said to be based on either the book or the movie. I think I'm using the looks the characters have in the movie as a base but other than that I'm trying to stick to what's in the book :)**

* * *

It was supposed to be a regular exercise, just to see that everyone would be able to get out in case of fire. The students were moving down the stairs at a calm pace, talking and laughing as if they were just heading out for lunch.

But then they smelt it. The smoke. There was a fire somewhere in the school and it seemed to be spreading. Panic erupted as people tried to get out as quickly as possible.

When they had all gathered on the front porch; teachers, students and visitors, they could see where the fire came from. It was the classroom on the top floor located in the farthest end of the building.

"Brad!"

Kelly Welsh rose from her wheelchair, about to rush into the school, despite her injured foot. Another woman grabbed her and held her back.

"He should have gotten out", she said silently. Kelly turned slightly and saw the face belonging to the student who had decided to quit halfway through the term. Cate Jacobs looked stern and worried as she gazed at the flames leaping out through the windows. Still she had been calm when she spoke those words.

And Kelly knew she was lying.

* * *

Cate Jacobs had been at the school for a brief lecture. She had been on the top floor, in her old home-room, when the fire had started. Because of that she had left her computer behind.

The day after the fire she drove back to the school. She didn't have much hope of getting her computer; it had been too close to the fire, but her curiosity drove her there anyway.

Surprisingly, she found that her home-room hadn't been damaged at all by the flames and that her computer still lay right where she had left it. It made her frown and her brain was working through all the details of yesterday as she put the computer in its bag and turned to walk back out to her car.

When she got out in the corridor, she heard the quiet sobs from the room that had been burned. Slowly she made her way there, studying the clean walls while frowning. How had the fire been so central? Fire was a wild element, it could not be held in a single room for that long, and considering the size of it at least half of this floor should have been burned down.

She pushed the door open and noticed the wheelchair, lying on the floor not far from its weeping owner. The small, blonde teacher in theatre, Kelly Welsh, whom she had stopped from rushing back inside yesterday, was lying face down on the floor, crying uncontrollably.

"Kelly?" she said softly.

"Go away", came the muffled answer. Cate remained in the doorway, looking around the room. Here there were traces of the fire, but still every part of the furniture was intact; wooden desks that should have been turned into ash and still clean curtains by the windows.

"He's gone."

"He's not dead, Kelly", Cate said sharply and put her bag down on the floor.

"He was in this room when the fire erupted!" Kelly shouted, raising her head slightly.

"If he was, then we should be able to find traces of him", Cate answered, sinking down on her heels. "Burned bones, scraps of metal, the smell of burned flesh, but there's nothing."

"Then… where is he?" Kelly asked, wiping her nose as she slowly sat up.

"This is all a complete mystery", Cate sighed. "The fire was huge, from what we saw, but still it stayed in this room. No other room, not even the corridor, looks damaged, and this room only has a few traces, despite being the center. The furniture is intact, including the fabrics of the chairs, there are just black marks on the wall."

She rose, pulling her hand along one of the ash-marks left on the yellow wall. Frowning, she noticed that her hand did not get dirty or leave any marks.

"It's not real", she said and turned towards Kelly again. "It's an illusion, but as humans we have a hard time believing in magic. Logically, we should therefore have ignored these small flaws."

"Then why do you not ignore them?"

Cate gave her a quick smile.

"Because I'm used to looking at things that no one else sees."

She raised the wheelchair once again and helped Kelly sit in it. Then she frowned.

"How did you get up here?"

"What?"

"How is it possible that you are up here, on the top floor, when you're in a wheelchair?" Cate asked. "There's no elevator…"

Kelly's eyes widened.

"I… I do not know… I just wished that I could… that I could come here and…"

"And then you were here", Cate filled in. "I believed that my computer was destroyed, but I still came here to look for it…"

Her ears moved as she picked up a surprising sound from outside the door.

"Water", she whispered, before she grabbed onto Kelly. "Take a deep breath!"

The next moment water burst through the door, flooding over them until the whole room was filled with it. Cate placed Kelly's arm around her shoulders and pushed up from the floor, swimming upwards. Either the room had turned bigger or they had turned smaller, because they never seemed to reach the surface. Their lungs were burning from the lack of oxygen, until Cate spotted a ray of sunlight and took aim towards it.

Soon they broke surface, both of them gasping for air and finding themselves in the middle of the ocean.

"Where… the hell… are we?" Kelly managed to ask. Cate shook her head.

"Don't know."

She then spotted a ship heading towards them and raised her arm.

"Hey! Hey, over here!"

"Help us!" Kelly chimed in. The ship turned somewhat and steered closer. It was a magnificent ship with a large, purple sail and a dragon in the fore. A ladder was thrown over the side and a man climbed down to help them up. Cate pushed Kelly before her.

"She's injured", she said. The man nodded and grabbed onto Kelly's waist, easily pulling her up over the rail. He then reached down and grabbed Cate's hand, hurling her up as well.

Someone draped towels over their shoulders and helped them sit down on the stairs. There were soldiers everywhere on deck, and despite the quick stop to help them up, no one seemed to have quit their discussions.

"It's some kind of war ship", Cate said silently.

"Cate…"

"And we must be in another time, since everyone's carrying a sword."

"Cate…"

"Question is if they…"

"It's the _Dawn Treader_."

Cate turned to stare at Kelly, then at an armed mouse that had just appeared through a door, along with a Minotaur.

"No way", she mumbled and rose. "But… but there was never anything like this onboard the _Dawn Treader_ , was there?"

Kelly shook her head.

"Daughters of Eve."

They both looked up at the young man who had spoken. He had dark hair in a pony-tail, dark eyes and a short beard, but everything about him said one thing only; king.

"I'm honored to have you onboard", he said with a smile.

"You're King Caspian of Narnia?" Cate asked, tilting her head slightly. At that moment, everything on deck stopped.

"Yes", the king answered after a while.

"And this is the actual _Dawn Treader_?" Cate continued, gazing up the mast. "The ship that went to the Land of Aslan?"

"Yes, we are on our way back."

"Why are you all in full armor?" Kelly asked from her place on the stairs.

"We only know what happened until you reached the Land of Aslan", Cate explained. "Why are you all armed? What's happened?"

"As we were about to leave the Land of Aslan, we were attacked by a navy", the man who had saved them from the sea answered. "Aslan himself protected our King, but was poisoned by the attacker's knife. We are trying to make it back to Ramandu's Island to find a cure for him."

"Aslan's onboard?" Kelly gasped.

"Who attacked you and who could possibly have poisoned Aslan?" Cate said. "I thought that was impossible!"

"The ships came from further south, from an island we do not know of", Caspian answered. "They might be rivals to Aslan himself, personally I do not know of what enemies he has, except for the White Witch."

He smiled weakly.

"Cate, this is crazy", Kelly said.

"Just as crazy and weird as the fire back at the school", Cate said silently. "It's all connected, somehow; Brad's disappearance, us ending up here, the attack on Aslan… by every God, I know the answer should be simple, that I should know it, but my mind refuses to let me see it!"

"My Lord!"

They all spun around to see a man climb up from below deck.

"It's Aslan, My Lord", he said. "He wants to see the girl."

* * *

 **Please comment what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**For some reason it's been difficult uploading this story here, but not on AO3 - so chapter 1 has been up there for quite some time and when I decided to post chapter 2 there tonight I decided to try posting it here again. And lo and behold; now it worked! So you get two chapters of this right away X)**

* * *

"It's Aslan, My Lord", he said. "He wants to see the girl."

He turned his gaze to look at Cate, which made Caspian look at her as well. She stared back at the man in mere surprise.

A short while later she opened the door which led to the room where Aslan was being treated. The people in there all nodded at her, before they walked out, leaving her alone with the magnificent lion, hidden behind a veil of white linen.

But when she pulled it aside, it was not a lion lying in front of her. It was a man; muscular with tanned skin and golden-brown hair and beard, like a mane around his face. His eyes were closed and there were a few drops of sweat on his brow; he was in pain. Cate slowly sank down next to him, grabbed a towel from nearby and wiped them away.

Then he slowly opened his eyes, revealing his dark blue irises that looked straight into her. And she instantly knew that this was the Great Lion, but in a different shape, because no other creature could possibly have those eyes.

"Hello", she said silently, unsure about if it was the right way to greet him.

"You're the girl they saved from the water", he said. "The one who sees things that no one else understands."

"Well, I… I just… it's just imagination", she mumbled, blushing. It made him smile. He raised a trembling hand and touched her face; it was warm because of the fever.

"Imagination is good", he whispered. "Otherwise I would not have sensed you. I… I would not have seen…"

He drew a rigid breath and closed his eyes momentarily, his body trembling.

"Who did this to you?" Cate asked sharply. "Who was it that attacked the _Dawn Treader_ when they were leaving?"

Aslan opened his eyes again.

"They are called the Barenians", he answered. "They have an island not far from here; a castle, a small city, that's all there is. But they are skilled magicians and they wanted more than just that island. So they decided to get rid of me."

He smiled weakly.

"But that you had already figured out."

Cate grimaced.

"Kind of; it sounded illogical that an unknown navy showed up and attacked the Narnians when they were already leaving. It would be more logical if they attacked them because they knew that they would get to you if they did."

Aslan nodded.

"Are they the same ones that have captured Kelly's fiancée?" Cate asked. He nodded again.

"They tricked him, and now he is their slave. He does not remember his old life, my child. Only the life on Barenia; the life as their leader."

"Their leader?"

"Of course it is a charade", Aslan said and grimaced momentarily. "There are men around him, manipulating him, making sure that he stays drunk."

"Of course; alcohol is the key to success", Cate muttered.

"You must go there, child", Aslan ordered and grabbed her hand. "With your will of thought, you are the only one who can save him, take him back to who he was."

"We need to make sure that you survive before we do anything like that", Cate answered. "Caspian won't let you die and he therefore won't turn the ship around to save someone he does not know."

"He has to turn."

Cate sighed and closed her eyes, shaking her head.

"I won't be able to make him turn."

"My Lady!"

There was a knock on the door and she looked up just as Caspian himself came inside. He closed the door behind him, but did not walk past the white curtain. She wondered if he could see her just as clearly as she saw him; in that case he disguised it by looking in a completely different direction.

"Don't call me that, My Lord", she said. "I'm Cate, not some kind of lady."

Caspian smiled momentarily.

"I came to tell My Lord Aslan that we are halfway to Ramandu's Island and making good speed. We should arrive within two days."

Cate looked down at Aslan, who had once again closed his eyes. She bit her lip to force the tears away; she knew she had to choose between his life and her friends.

"Turn the ship", she whispered. Caspian stopped, turning towards the curtains.

"What?"

"The people that attacked you have an island not far from here and they have captured a man I know; Kelly's fiancée. I need you to turn this ship and go there now."

The King stomped around the curtain and glared at her.

"I will _not_ turn around", he hissed. "Can't you see that he will die if we do not go to Ramandu's island?"

"He asked me to tell you to turn", Cate said and looked up at him. Tears were falling from her eyes and Caspian looked taken aback by the mere sight.

"We cannot turn", he said after a while.

"What if there is no cure on Ramandu's Island?" she asked. "What if you go there only to realize that there is no help to be found there?"

Caspian just stood there in silence.

"I know that you hope and pray that the cure is there", she continued. "But if the Barenians hold the only cure we need to go there instead, and if we go from Ramandu's Island it will be a longer journey for him and…"

"If we go there we will have no chance of surviving", Caspian interrupted. "They have a large navy, we only have one ship."

Cate rose and let go of Aslan's hand, which she had been holding for so long now.

"I am only asking you to let me off on that island of theirs", she said. "I can do this on my own."

* * *

Caspian agreed to go to Barenia, after a lot of thought and discussion. During the journey south, Cate kept the information about Brad's location secret to Kelly, who was constantly being treated for her injuries by some of the fauns onboard.

Despite not having any idea of how far away they were from Barenia for a start, Cate soon started to feel that they were almost there. Almost as if something was both pulling and repelling her.

"I gave you a few of my powers", Aslan admitted when she went down to see him again. "Just so that you will survive Barenia; it is a tough place to be in."

"We will be there tomorrow, won't we?" she asked silently. Aslan nodded.

"I hate to send you there, child, I really do…"

"Well, I guess I would have gone there anyway; just to get Brad back with Kelly. I can't bear to see any of them unhappy… it was heartbreaking to say good-bye to them when I left school…"

Aslant smiled and stroke her cheek with his hand, before he closed his eyes and fell asleep once again. Cate sat there for a while, just looking at him, before she rose and walked back up to the main deck.

For a while she just stood there, leaning against the rail, gazing out over the sea, before she realized that she wasn't alone. As she turned, she saw Caspian coming towards her.

"How was he?" he asked, leaning against the rail beside her.

"The same as before", she answered and turned to look out over the sea again. "Tired, weak, but still him."

Caspian nodded.

"I talked with him earlier", he admitted. "Asked him about the other islands here… he told me of one that is quite far away but that the Barenians tend to trade a lot with."

"And that is important because…?"

"Because you and I are going to pose as the prince and princess of that island", Caspian answered. Cate looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I am not going to let you go alone, Cate", Caspian said sharply. "A woman alone on Barenia is, according to Aslan, not the best of things to be. The men will take advantage at once."

"So you are my protector or what?" she asked and turned back towards the sea.

"Call it that if you want. We will be entering the harbor with only humans on deck and you and I will be escorted to the castle. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew will take the _Dawn Treader_ out to sea again. They will return in two days and if we are not there when they arrive, they will leave for Ramandu's Island at once."

"Sounds like you got it all planned", Cate said.

"All to keep you, my crew, Aslan and everyone else safe."

They stood there in silence for a while, looking at the stars that started to show up.

"I have to show you something", Caspian said, turning towards her with a slight smile. He then walked over to the hatch that led downstairs. Cate frowned but followed him down.

Caspian led her past the different cots belonging to his men and opened a secret door in the far end of the ship. It led to a room where several of the fauns could be found. They were all working with huge pieces of cloth.

"They've been working all day", Caspian said and nodded at the fauns. One of them rose with a bow, then picked up the red cloth, revealing it to be a long dress. Another one held up the white cloth, which turned out to be a pair of pants and a jacket.

"Our disguise", Caspian explained. "What do you think?"

Cate just looked at it in surprise.

"What did you make these things of?"

"The table-cloth and curtains used in my own quarters, and the Captain's."

She held up the dress, which was almost finished by the looks of it, and studied it with a slight smile.

"It's beautiful", she admitted. "I hate wearing dresses, but this one will be an honor to wear."

Caspian smiled, both at her and the fauns, before he led her back out through the door.

"We will hide people in that room tomorrow", he explained. "Including Aslan."

A shadow passed over his face and Cate realized that he was worried about moving the lion, or man, whatever he was now.

"He will be alright", she said, giving Caspian's arm a gentle stroke of comfort. "He's Aslan."

Caspian gave her a faint smile.

"I've given you and Miss Kelly my quarters to reside in", he said once they got back up on deck. "I will stay with Captain Drinian."

"That's… thank you", Cate said with a smile.

"I'll take you there at once."

There was something about the young King that made her shy in his presence. She didn't know if it was is good looks or if it was his way of acting towards her, but in any case she had a hard time coming up with something to say as he led her to the quarters he had given her.

Kelly was already there and looked up from her position on the bed with a faint smile. Caspian hastily bid them both good night and closed the door.

"You're alright?" Cate asked and sat down on the other bed in the small room.

"I guess", Kelly answered. "I just hate that I can't move around like I want to."

"There's not much to do on a ship in the middle of the ocean anyway", Cate answered with a shrug.

"Except for flirting with the King?"

Cate stared at her former teacher, who grinned at her.

"Come on, it's obvious that he is into you and you are kind of into him as well", she continued.

"I am not flirting with him", Cate said, but felt her cheeks burning and looked away. Kelly giggled.

"Maybe not, but the chemistry is there."

Cate muttered some foul words as she pulled off the boots she had been given by Drinian earlier. Then she lay down on her back.

"We'll arrive at Barenia tomorrow", she said. "Me and Caspian will go there to look for answers."

"To what?"

"Everything", Cate answered and turned so that she could look at Kelly. "Why they attacked the ship, how to cure Aslan, why the two of us are here, why Brad was taken away by that mysterious fire, who created the fire…"

A shadow passed over Kelly's pale face and she looked away.

"We will find him, I promise", Cate said. "I will not leave here until I know where to find him and how to get him back."

As Kelly forced herself to smile, Cate prayed that she would be able to keep that promise once they reached Barenia.


	3. Chapter 3

**Two chapters coming right at you - and an explanation for it :)**

* * *

Later that night Cate found herself unable to sleep. Kelly had fallen asleep not long after they had finished their conversation, but Cate was unable to stop thinking about what had happened. And she feared that if she closed her eyes all of this would fade into a dream and she would wake up on the day when she was going to hold that speech back at the school, that none of this would have happened.

With a sigh she sat up and pulled on her boots once again, walking out of the room and back up on deck. She nodded at those men who were on duty, before she climbed up to the fore, leaning against the back of the dragon's neck.

"You should be asleep."

She spun around with a gasp. Caspian was standing not far behind her, his hands clasped on his back. It was obvious that he had been trying to sleep as well, because his clothes were not as arranged as they should have been; the buttons in his shirt were in the wrong holes and he had not tucked it in as he should have.

"You should as well", she said once she had regained her composure. He smiled quickly and climbed up beside her.

"I'm guessing that we both have too much to think about", he said. Cate nodded and stared out over the black ocean.

"Where do you come from?" Caspian suddenly asked.

"A parallel universe, I dare say", Cate sighed. "The Pevensies came from one as well, but not the same one."

"How do you know?"

"Because in my world you are all characters in a book for children", Cate answered and looked at him. Caspian blinked in surprise.

"That's how both me and Kelly knew who you were, what the ship was called and where it had been", she continued and looked forward again. "We had read the story..."

Caspian didn't answer that, he just remained silent. She could feel him looking at her, though.

"Which is why I am worried to do anything in this world to change the storyline", she said after a while. "I mean, what happens now happens in between two of the books, but if I do something to… to you, for example, things might change drastically."

"You know that that only makes you more intriguing", Caspian said silently and smiled. Cate groaned; she had wished that Caspian would take her point, but obviously that had already gone too far.

"You would only lose me just like you lost Susan", she muttered. "Aslan would send me home sooner or later."

Caspian's smile faded and he looked away.

"Look, it's not that I do not want to stay; I've always dreamed about going to Narnia, but I know that I'll be sent back and I therefore do not want to go into any complicated relationship or…"

"I understand", Caspian interrupted and looked back at her, his eyes hard and cold. "Now, I think that both you and I need to get some sleep before tomorrow. My Lady."

He bowed and climbed back down to the deck, then disappeared down to the quarters he shared with Drinian. Cate felt like hitting herself in the head as she saw him leave.

* * *

After a night of little sleep, Cate got dressed in the beautiful dress that the fauns had made and allowed Kelly to put her hair up in an equally beautiful way. All the while, Kelly begged her to be careful.

"Kelly", Cate finally interrupted and turned around towards her friend. "I'll be fine. I've got Caspian and if that is not enough, Drinian has showed me how to hide knives in the sleeves of my dress."

She blinked and Kelly forced a smile.

"I just do not want to lose you too", she mumbled and looked down. Cate carefully embraced her as a response, before she hurried up to the deck. She was passed by the Minotaur, who was on his way down to take Kelly to the secret room.

Upstairs she stopped when she saw the new decorations of the ship. There was a new sail, new uniforms and the dragon's head in the fore had somehow been replaced by a swan.

"Aslan", Drinian said as he came up beside her. "He used some of his powers to create an illusion."

"Won't that harm him further?" Cate asked.

"He chose to do it himself, because of that he believes in you", Caspian said and smiled at her, then raised her hand to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on it. "You look beautiful, My Lady."

She forced herself not to blush as he led her over to the rail. Not far away they saw the island of Barenia, marked by a high tower in the centre of the large castle. Cate swallowed; now it all depended on her.

They were let into the harbor without any questions and when the two of them stepped off, there was an armed escort waiting for them on the pier.

"Welcome, Your Highnesses, to Barenia", said their leader. "We are here to escort you to our castle, where your arrival will be honored by a feast beyond your imagination."

"Thank you", Caspian said and nodded at the guards, before they were surrounded by them and lead up the streets. Cate's grip on Caspian's arm hardened as they walked; she was frightened. If anyone here suddenly realized who she truly was, she would, without doubt, be killed, and so would Caspian.

When they reached the castle there was already a feast in its great hall; one that by the looks of it was always raging. People seemed to be either drunk or unconscious, or somewhat in between those two states.

"Guests! Guests!"

Cate forced herself not to stop and stare at the man who now came stumbling towards them, followed by two older men who were telling him that he needed to sit down. The man himself had stubby, black hair, brown eyes and his ears looked slightly too big for his head. He also wore a pair of modern glasses on his nose.

"So good to see you", he said and spread his arms wide as if to hug them. The two other men, probably his councilors, managed to stop him before he got that far.

"You must excuse our Highness, My Lord", one of the men said, addressing Caspian. "Since the sudden death of his wife he has been drinking far too much, which has also made him very… clingy, so to say."

"I understand", Caspian said with a nod. "This is my wife, Princess Sirena."

"An honor", the councilors said at once, before they excused themselves and led the man away. Caspian led Cate in the opposite direction.

"That's him?" he mumbled as he helped her sit down on an empty chair.

"Yes", Cate answered. Caspian smiled and straightened.

"How about some refreshments, my dear?" he asked.

"That would be wonderful, Your Grace", she answered with a nod, and saw how Caspian disappeared through the crowd.

The next moment, someone slumped down on the chair to her left and she spun around, only to face the so-called leader of the Barenians again. Obviously he had escaped from his councilors.

"You look… familiar", he managed to say as he took another sip of wine from a goblet in his hand.

"I suppose I have that sort of face, Your Highness", she answered and looked away. In the corner of her eye, she saw him shake his head.

"You never called me that", he said. "You said something else… you teased me…"

"You make it sound like I was your mistress or something", Cate said, quickly adding a title afterwards. To that, he laughed.

"Naught of that sort", he said and leaned forward. She involuntarily leaned away when she smelled his alcoholic breath.

"I just cannot place you", he said, studying her face. "It's like I should know exactly who you are, but I cannot grasp it…"

"Well, if you'd like an advice, stop drinking", Cate said and rose. "It numbs your thoughts."

She hurried away, but was soon caught by Caspian. His eyes glared at the Barenian leader, who was staring at Cate.

"What was he doing?" Caspian asked silently.

"Nothing", Cate answered and yanked free. "Stop looking at him like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you want to rip his throat off. Come on, let's find somewhere to sit and eat."

Caspian still looked annoyed when he looked at the other man, but once they'd lost sight of him he slowly relaxed. By the time someone announced that the feast would take a few hours break, both of them had been drinking somewhat too much and were laughing and giggling all the way up to the chambers they'd been given.


	4. Chapter 4

The suite that would be theirs for the upcoming days was large, with two bedrooms, a large bathroom with a tub and an enormous room for both official meetings and relaxing.

"Now this is something else than a ship", Caspian said with a grin and slumped down on one of the couches in the main room. Cate, having kept herself reasonably sober, sat down in the other one and stretched her arms.

"I still cannot believe that you said no to all of those women who asked you to dance", she said. "Believe me, they looked more than disappointed."

"Well, none of them was as beautiful as the lady sitting in front of me", Caspian answered and sat up.

"What, that old hag?" Cate said, remembering the old lady with a large, grey wig and a face covered in white powder who had been sitting on the other side of their table for most of the night. Caspian laughed, but soon stopped and turned serious, his eyes studying her intently.

"I was referring to the one sitting in front of me right now", he said, the tone in his voice sending a shiver down her spine. She quickly averted her gaze, but felt how her cheeks heated up.

"I'm nothing like them", she said silently. She never heard Caspian rise, but suddenly he was standing in front of her, tilting her head upwards. His eyes had turned dark.

"You are everything and more", he whispered, before he lowered his head and placed the softest of kisses on her lips. That simple gesture sent a wave of heat through her body and before he could move away, she brought her hands up around his neck and pressed him down, causing him to lose his balance and fall down on top of her. Neither of them cared; they were far too busy exploring each other's mouth. As they managed to get their legs up on the sofa as well, Caspian's lips started to trail down her throat and across the top of her chest.

"You are so beautiful", he mumbled against her skin. "Perfect."

She moaned under his touch and wished he would make short use of her dress. Of course, being noble and also reminding himself that she had no other dress to wear, Caspian took his time unlacing it. And as she was equally aware of the few clothes they owned, also she took her time with his jacket, shirt and trousers, until they had shed all of their clothes and thrown them onto the floor.

They were so busy with each other that neither noticed when the old woman, who had earlier sat opposite them, opened and peeked in through the door, smiling to herself at the sight and then leaving.

She walked back through the corridors with the same dignity as that of a Queen and stopped when she reached what seemed to be a dead end. But instead, she turned around and checked that the corridor was empty, before placing a hand on one of the bricks in the wall. The wall disintegrated, revealing a staircase that lead down to a secret dungeon.

"Has he answered your questions yet?" she asked the old man she met at the bottom impatiently.

"No, mistress", the man answered and bowed his head. "Whatever that woman did to him, it brought him out of the trance we put him in."

The woman snorted and swiped her hand over her face, changing it into that of a young woman's.

"Well, if torture can't do it, then pleasure can", she said.

"What about the traitors?" the man asked.

"Well, let's just say that they are as busy with one another as Bradford will be with me in a couple of moments", the woman answered with a smug grin. The man looked equally smug and stepped aside, letting the woman walk into the cell.

The cell was empty apart from the man that was formally known as the leader of the Barenians. His hands and feet were tied to a chair in the middle of the room and there were several fresh bruises on his cheeks. At the moment, he kept his gaze at the floor.

"My lord?" the woman said silently. "Are you alright?"

"I am not your lord", the man answered, his voice sharp. "You kidnapped me and drugged me, tricked me and deceived me."

"Why would someone do that, my lord?" the woman asked, adopting the ways of a servant girl. "Does someone wish to harm you?"

Now he looked up and for the first time since he got here, the woman realized that his gaze was piercing; sharper than the best of knives.

"Do not play your tricks with me, Fenhilda", he said sharply. "My eyes are clear once more and I can see through your disguise easily."

The woman bared her teeth in anger and changed shape once again, this time to her true one; a woman in her fifties with black eyes and brown hair that was turning grey. Three scars were running diagonally across her face.

"You might have seen through my disguise, but you won't get out of here", she hissed and stepped forward, then softened again. With a smile she stroked his cheek and he quickly looked away, refusing to be tempted.

"Of course, that could change, if you told me who that young woman is. The one that woke you up from this trance, remember?"

He didn't answer; instead he held his lips so tightly together that they were almost invisible.

"Now, now, Bradford", Fenhilda continued, forcing herself to remain calm. "She cannot be that important to you. What is important is to live, and as our King you get to live."

He kept looking away, his expression not changing. Fenhilda finally lost her temper and punched him in the chest, pleased to hear him gasp in pain and to also feel a rib crack beneath her hand.

"I can tear you apart in a second", she hissed. "You have twenty-four hours to tell me who that woman is; I will return once every hour and break another of your bones if you still refuse to answer me. If you do answer, I'll heal you and you will be free."

He looked at her again, his gaze defiant.

"Do it."

Cate's eyes snapped open. It took her awhile to realize where she was and what had happened, but soon she recognized the roof in the suite and also felt Caspian sleeping behind her, resting his head against her back and keeping an arm protectively around her bare chest. How long time had passed since they made love first on the couch and then in the bed, where they had then fallen asleep; two hours, three hours? Had the feast started again?

Carefully, she untangled herself from both the sheets and Caspian, who mumbled something in his sleep and then turned around. She then walked into the bathroom and splashed some water into her face, before studying herself in the mirror. She looked tired; her eyes were red from the lack of sleep and she had black marks beneath them. Still, she did not feel tired.

It took her a few moments to realize that what she was actually seeing was a magical reflection of Aslan's physical condition; the powers he had given her had obviously manifested into something that enabled her to see how he was doing. And the answer was bad; really bad.

Then the dream came back to her and she realized that it wasn't a dream; it had been a vision of what had happened while she and Caspian had been distracted. She closed her eyes to focus and remember the details. Fenhilda had said that she would return once every hour and break one more bone of his. As she had no idea how long they had been sleeping, she had no idea how many more bones she had managed to break, or how many hours she had left to save him.

Impulsively, she opened the door that lead into the gigantic wardrobe, which was a part of the bathroom. To her surprise she found several sets of new clothes in there; obviously not everyone had been aware of the deception. She chose a pair of trousers, a shirt and a long cloak with a hood. By pulling her hair back with a ribbon she should be able to pass as a man out in the corridors. Hopefully.

After checking that Caspian was still sleeping, she slipped out into the corridor. Through memory she managed to get to the dead end where Fenhilda had opened the secret door. Now, the question was how long time she had before the woman would come back down to torture her friend. After some thinking, she realized that the only way was really to wait until she came back and then get in through the door once she'd left again. Bad thing was that that would mean that her friend would have another bone broken once she got to him, but she might just as well be walking into a trap if she didn't wait.

She slipped in behind a few old barrels that had been placed in the dead end and as she sat there, she soon started to hear the sounds of the feast below. When looking out through the windows she guessed that it was now close to midnight, as the sky had turned pitch black. After managing to go through her previous memories, she concluded that she and Caspian had gotten to their suite around four hours ago. Which meant that Brad would have at least four broken bones.

She almost stopped breathing when she heard the approaching footsteps. In the darkness she would, hopefully, be hard to notice among the barrels, but if it was Fenhilda she needed to be extra careful; Fenhilda might be able to notice her with magic.

As the steps came closer, Cate saw that it indeed was Fenhilda, and she was way to furious to even look around for possible witnesses as she opened the secret door. Obviously she was not used to someone letting her wait for an answer. She disappeared down the stairs half-running, half-walking, and the wall appeared yet again.

Cate quickly stuck a few fingers down her left sleeve to make sure that the knife was there; Drinian had indeed showed her how to best hide her weapon. It had never occurred to her, though, that she might actually have to use it, perhaps to kill. In the dream she had seen one guard down by the cell and she saw no reason why he shouldn't still be there. And he wouldn't show her mercy.

The minutes slowly ticked away and Cate feared that Fenhilda might have broken her word and was crushing each and every bone in the man's body. Then, suddenly, the door opened again and the old woman stepped out, still furious. Obviously Brad was very stubborn and had not told her anything yet. Muttering some foul words, she walked away through the corridor. Cate did not rise until her enemy was no longer visible. Quickly she walked up to the wall and placed a hand on the secret stone, which she remembered from both the dream and from when Fenhilda had earlier opened the door. Also now the door opened and she slipped in, carefully making her way down the stairs. She had to move slowly both to avoid detection and to make sure she didn't miss a step; the staircase was completely dark and she definitely didn't want to fall on it.

After what seemed like an eternity she saw the light from torches stream in through an opening somewhat below; she'd reached the dungeons. Her heart pounded so hard and fast that it was a wonder in itself that no one heard her.

She stepped out from the opening and the guard by the door turned towards her, staring at her in surprise. Knowing that she wouldn't get another chance, she pulled out her knife and threw it at his bared throat. It hit and blood shot out over the floor as he fell down, cramping and trying to scream. After less than a minute he lay completely still.

Focusing on the task at hand, she snatched the keys from him and opened the door. Brad was still sitting in the middle of the room, still naked and bruised. The only difference from her dream was that he was now trembling with pain.

Swiftly she walked over to him and started to try and loosen his ropes. He immediately looked up, his eyes widening in shock.

"You…"

"It's me", she interrupted, meeting his gaze.

"But… what are you doing here?" he asked. "You could get killed."

"As could you", she muttered, uttering a low curse as the ropes would not untie themselves.

"You'll need a knife", he stated. She glanced back through the door, towards the dead man with her knife in his throat. She didn't really like the thought of pulling it out.

"No, I can do this", she said and once again started to try and untie the knots. After a few useless attempts, she decided to try the knots binding his hands instead.

This time she got a reaction, but not the one she'd expected. She'd managed to untie part of the knot and was just trying to figure out how to continue when she saw the ropes tying themselves again.

"Oh shit", she mumbled, staring at the ropes.

"What?" Brad asked, trying to turn around. "What's wrong?"

"The ropes are enchanted", Cate answered and rose. "They're tying themselves."

His eyes widened, before he looked at nothing in particular with a stern look on his face.

"Fenhilda", he hissed. That reminded her of the older woman's promise.

"If I manage to cut the ropes, will you be able to walk?" she asked, trying to distinguish what bones that had been broken. He frowned at the question.

"Yes, why shouldn't I… oh…"

His eyes widened again.

"How did you know what she was doing to me?" he asked, suddenly suspicious.

"I had a vision of it", Cate answered. "I saw when she came down here and said that she would return once every hour to hurt you again… if you didn't tell her who I was."

"But if you had a vision, then… you have magic?"

"No, I… it's complicated."

She sighed.

"Could we focus on getting you out of here instead?" she asked. "What bones has she broken?"

"Two ribs, one on each side, and both of my arms are dislocated", Brad answered.

"The ribs will make it harder for you to run", Cate noted.

"But if you have magic…" Brad begun, leading her back to the old subject.

"I don't."

"Listen", he said sharply. "Magic was used to tie these ropes. If you use magic, then they might untie themselves."


	5. UPDATE INFORMATION

_**Hey guys – again!**_

 **Just a quick message to you all; I'm going to be quite busy throughout the rest of August and September and will have to go on hiatus for at least that time period. Basically I've just started working and I've been given a lot more responsibility than what was initially planned because the two original teachers I was supposed to work with quit after last semester so we're three newbies on our teaching team instead of one newbie (me). Aaaand I'll also be moving in the midst of all of this new work (end of August). So there's a lot going on and even though I have no doubt I'll still be writing stuff during this time to keep myself sane I won't be able to focus on one story and get chapters up for that at a good interval. I will actually try to do something like that after all of this has settled done – set a schedule for chapter publishing – but at the moment I just have to focus on personal stuff.**

 **As for now I've posted everything I had that I hadn't posted yet – hence why some stories were suddenly updated with several new chapters at once instead of just one. I'm not saying that nothing will be posted throughout this period – I will do my best to give myself free weekends so that I can relax and not freak out completely – but on the other hand I can't promise chapters or short-stories either. You know what I mean? Hope you do. Anyway; keep an eye out for chapters in late September or October, at least, because things should have settled by that time. Hopefully.**

* * *

 _ **Love,**_

 _ **Sandra**_


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